


Closing Time

by suecsit



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Slow Burn, sequel to Opening the Box, some language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-07 01:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15897897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suecsit/pseuds/suecsit
Summary: After meeting with an old friend, Johnny tries to exercise more caution in dealing with Daniel. It's harder than he expected.





	Closing Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is the sequel to other episodes in the "Bartender" series. In order they are "Sun Poisoning," "Orbiting," "Always Be Closing," "Thursday Night," and "Opening the Box."
> 
> You can find me @ kairosandbalance on Tumblr. I love to obsess about these characters. Visit me anytime.

“Closing Time”

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. (Semisonic)

 

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Bobby Brown said, his fork falling to his plate. “Johnny, tell me you’re not serious.” 

“Bobby, look, I don’t know.” Johnny picked up his burger, which was leaking ketchup and mayonnaise all over his plate. 

“Larusso? Are you sure?” Bobby sat back in the booth, his hands in his lap. “I mean…this really sounds like a bad idea. He’s not even gay!”

“Look, just because you’re happily married and found a way out of this crap doesn’t mean you have to look down on the rest of us,” Johnny said, feeling defensive. He wasn’t regretting his life, just irritated that others had things settled. Nailed down. 

Bobby had a sure thing, and he wanted something like that. After he and Johnny had hooked up, Johnny hadn’t seen him again for years. 

Then he came back to visit and brought a girl with him. Johnny couldn’t help but smile when it happened. He never thought Bobby would do anything but get married and have a couple of kids. Some people you just knew what their path was. No matter what.

Others…you couldn’t be sure--Daniel being the main example.

“Sorry, man,” he said, “but I care about you, and I don’t think you should be wasting your time.”

“How the fuck do you know I’m wasting it?” Johnny muttered, lowering his voice so that the table next to him didn’t have an earful.

“Maybe he’s messing with you. We DID mess with him, you know. And all that shit that Kreese pulled. It’s amazing that guy is even walking today.

”No thanks to you.”

“Look who’s talking.”

Johnny avoided eye contact for a moment and took a giant swig of his beer. When he flashed back to that night on the beach, something always seized his stomach. Maybe it was because he was ashamed to admit the truth: that his crush started the night he kicked Daniel into the sand. 

Normal people didn’t get off on things like that.

Meanwhile, Bobby narrowed his eyes at Johnny’s beer guzzling. He looked ready to give a lecture.

“Anyway, it’s not about high school. It’s something else. We’re not the ones who ultimately fucked up his life. Someone else did. Or something.”

“You think it’s the wife? Or his teacher, Mr..Miyo…”

“Miyagi,” Johnny said. “My bet’s on the wife.”

Bobby shook his head. “Of course it is.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Johnny snapped.

“Well, if you’ve got this big crush it only makes sense that you’d think he should leave his wife. That’s just how this stuff goes.”

“No, I mean, the guy’s messed up. He’s hanging out with ME, Bobby. That should tell you something.”

“It tells me that you need to run in the opposite direction. If he’s that screwed up, why do you want to be with him? Even when he WASN’T screwed up he drove you nuts.”

“I’m not seventeen anymore,” Johnny said. “Anyway, let’s forget it. Let’s talk about you. How are the kids?”

The two friends enjoyed their meal together once the talk of Daniel subsided. Still, as they finished the last of their burgers and fries, Johnny had the nagging feeling that Bobby could be right. The whole thing could be a sick joke. A way to get revenge. 

Or maybe Larusso was just sick, period. Maybe the guy was suffering from some sort of mental breakdown, and now he would be left to pick up the pieces.

Every explanation sounded worse than the last. 

 

****

Thursday night rolled around, and Johnny tried to keep his mind off of things that were confusing him. He threw himself into his work, earning more tips than usual because he actually took the time to flirt and charm other people besides Daniel. Although he couldn’t help but miss the guy (Daniel had made it a habit to swing by on Thursdays, although he never stayed as long as he did before when they first went back to Daniel’s house), the night was much calmer. His mind was focused. Laser sharp. Mixing drinks soothed him, made him feel like he was in control. 

It never bothered Johnny to prepare drinks for other people even though he had a nasty history with alcohol. That had been another reason his relationship with his son had suffered. During his marriage he spent many late nights out, getting wasted, mainly to avoid thinking about how he had no desire to sleep with his wife. 

Turned out that his wife really didn’t care. She could drink him under the table any day. And while he may have been unfaithful to her, he had the sneaking suspicion she had cheated on him, too. More than once. 

During their affair Bobby had seen more than his fair share of Johnny staggering into his apartment late at night and passing out on the floor. That’s why Bobby was ultimately more of a friend to him than anything else. It was Bobby who kicked him to the curb and told him to get his shit together. It was Bobby who drove him to an AA meeting after breaking things off. Shannon and Robby didn’t care. He had become invisible to them. 

He hadn’t stayed in a 12 step program long. Now he did drink beer on occasion, but it was always one or two at most. He’d been good about setting those limits for a long time. The one time in the past ten years he’d been tempted to get shit-faced was at lunch with Bobby. 

As the evening wore on, customers trickled out, and Johnny began to clean up the bar counter and seal the different bottles. Finally, the last person left a few minutes before closing time, and he stacked some chairs on tables and swept the floor. Once he emptied the trash can, he went outside to drop the large plastic bag in the dumpster. People always gave him a hard time for not recycling, and he made a mental note to at least sort the bottles in a way that made his customers think he cared about the planet. 

When he stepped outside, he saw Daniel, leaning against his car, waiting for him.

He froze. Something about seeing him after talking to Bobby made him feel a bit unsteady and nauseated. Now that he’d confessed their bizarre relationship to one person it made the whole thing real in a way it hadn’t been before. And more fucked up.

“Closing early?” Daniel asked. He was leaning back with his hands in his jeans pockets. Johnny wondered how often Daniel even put jeans on. The ones he was wearing looked like they’d been ironed. His jacket, tie, and shirt suggested he had originally been dressed for something special. 

“No,” Johnny answered. “It’s almost midnight.”

“Shit,” Daniel said. “So it is.” 

As Johnny looked closer at the man in front of him, he realized that Daniel was, in fact, already drunk. Not sloppy, fall down drunk, but getting there. 

“Looks like you’ve already had enough anyway,” Johnny couldn’t help but add.

“Who are you, my mother?”

Instead of answering, Johnny walked over to the dumpster and tossed the large bag a bit too forcefully. He wiped his hands on his jeans and turned around. “What do you want, Daniel?”

He could tell that the use of the man’s first name had taken him aback. Daniel didn’t respond for a few minutes. 

Finally, he shrugged. “Am s’posed to be attending an auto show in San Diego,” he said, looking down at his own tie as if he’d forgotten it was still there. “Big fancy event…” he mumbled. 

“All hail the auto king,” Johnny said. “What’s wrong, ready to give up your crown?”

Daniel didn’t respond. He just took off his tie, jerking it out of the tight collar and stuffing it into his pocket, and Johnny had to take a deep breath when the man undid his top button. “I’d just rather have a drink with you,” Daniel admitted. 

“Why?”

“Why? What do you mean why?”

“I mean why did you want to have a drink with me?” Johnny stepped closer to him, feeling slightly unhinged. “Why’d you get hammered somewhere else and come here for the final round? More to the point, why are you here if you’re s’posed to be somewhere else?”

“If you’re not interested, then sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you,” Daniel turned around to get back in his car. Johnny reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Oh, I’m interested,” Johnny said, eyeing the open collar as the man turned around to face him. 

“Then why the twenty questions?”

Johnny paused. Why indeed. “Ok, but I’m locking up. You can follow me back to my apartment if you want a beer,” he said. Then he added, “I don’t have anything fancier than that.”

“Beer’s fine,” Daniel slurred the words just a little, but enough that Johnny decided to change the plan.

“Why don’t you ride with me, and we’ll come back for your car in the morning,” he said, waiting for Larusso to bark at him about being his mother again.

“Fine. Whatever. Let’s just go.”

“Give me a second, your highness. I said I have to lock up.” 

Once Johnny checked to see that all the lights were out, he locked the back and front doors. Part of him hoped that Daniel had changed his mind and driven off. 

No such luck. When he came back, the guy now had his sleeves rolled up, his jacket off and thrown over his shoulder. He looked—

Well, Johnny didn’t want to think too hard about how he looked.

“Stare much?” 

“Get in,” he said, his voice rougher than usual. 

Daniel obeyed.

***

 

Johnny moved some magazines aside to let Daniel sit on his couch. The entire apartment was filled with things that now took up little space in other people’s apartments because they were stored digitally. Johnny had a stack of old magazines, an entertainment unit with tapes and CDs, and he even had a land line with an old phonebook next to it. “Sorry for the mess,” he said, not really sorry at all. After all, he wasn’t planning for company.

Daniel looked around the room before finally sitting down. “How long you been here?” he asked.

“Twelve years, give or take,” Johnny said, handing him a Coors. He screwed the top off of his own drink and sat down in the recliner next to the couch. 

“S’nice,” Daniel mumbled, drinking his beer and failing to sell the compliment.

“It’s not a fancy house in Encino,” Johnny couldn’t help but jab, “but it’s enough for me. You didn’t answer my question, you know.”

Daniel looked puzzled. “What question?”

“Why you came looking for me tonight.”

Daniel leaned back on the couch, looking off into space. “You’re the only real friend I’ve got,” he said, and then, perhaps because he found the statement highly ironic, he laughed to himself and spilled a little beer on his shirt in the process.

 

Daniel’s laugh became more uncontrollable when he realized he spilled his drink. He was doubled over, laughing at his own joke. 

Johnny knew then that the man before him was hanging on by a very thin thread.

“You’re a bigger mess than I thought,” Johnny said, going to fetch a towel from the kitchen. 

“You don’t even know, Johnny. You don’t even know.” Daniel pulled one long leg under his other and turned to face the recliner after he took the towel and dabbed it on his front. “Why are you sitting over there?” he asked.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re pretty far away.”

“And you’re pretty drunk. So I think I’ll stay where I am.”

Daniel smiled at him. “What’s the problem? Last time you came over I was drunk.”

“Because, Larusso, I’ve made a pact with myself. I’ve decided I don’t want to be an experiment in this whole…mid life crisis thing you have going on here.”

“Daniel.”

“Huh?”

“Call me Daniel. You did earlier.”

Johnny shook his head and then, as he tried to put the beer on the side table, he spilled a little. 

“Looks like you’re a mess, too,” Daniel teased, still smiling at him. He tossed the towel Johnny’s way. “Maybe not as big a mess as me, but a mess all the same.” 

“If I am that doesn’t mean I need to be…” his voice trailed off as he lost his nerve. What was happening to him? Why was his confidence so shaken? Was it Bobby? 

“Need to be…what?”

“Need to be falling for a straight man. That’s not going to make life any better for me, anyway.” This time he raised his chin and looked directly at Daniel, his eyes challenging him to face what he wouldn’t acknowledge, even in the haze of his altered state. 

Daniel laughed nervously. “You know what your problem is, LAWRENCE,” he said with some sarcastic emphasis. “You think too much.”

“Maybe you don’t think enough.”

“Bullshit.”

“You haven’t changed. Always getting in over your head but not even using it. No wonder we almost put you in a body bag.”

“But you didn’t,” Daniel countered. “You lost.”

“That was then, but this is now.”

“I think my kid has to read that book for English class.”

“Larusso, please, FOCUS. “ Johnny reached out and took the beer out of his hand. Daniel’s reflexes weren’t exactly working, so he didn’t notice the drink was gone until Johnny had gotten up and walked away with it. 

“Hey, that’s mine!” 

Johnny poured it down the kitchen sink. “I’m making you some coffee, and then you need to go to San Diego or your house or maybe an insane asylum. You pick, and I’ll give you a ride. ”

“I’ll just drink yours, then,” Daniel said petulantly. He grabbed Johnny’s Coors and promptly began to chug it. Johnny crossed back over to get the other bottle.

“Too late,” Daniel said, grinning. “All gone.” He turned the bottle upside down. Nothing came out except a few drops. 

Johnny snatched it out of Daniel’s hand like he was ready to scold a toddler. “That stuff’ll kill you,” he said. “You’re acting like a teenager.”

“Well, you’re the one who serves the shit,” Daniel snapped. “If you’re such an angel why do you work at a bar? Whoa.” Suddenly the man was staring at one fixed point with a maniacal look in his eyes. “The room just turned over.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Johnny said. 

“I think I need to lie down,” Daniel said.

“Oh no you don’t,” Johnny said, but it was too late. Daniel was horizontal on the couch. And he didn’t look like he was moving anytime soon.

Shit.

“I’m just going to take a little nap.”

“Larusso….”

“Johnny…”

“I can’t let you stay here.” He stood over the man, his arms crossed. 

“I won’t. Just a little nap,” Daniel smiled. “Don’t be angry with me,” he pleaded, holding out his hand. “Please? I’ll let you win,” he added.

“What the fuck am I winning??” Johnny hated himself, but he took that hand, and he laughed in spite of himself.

“You know.” 

Johnny squeezed his hand for a moment. They simply stared at each other. 

Finally Johnny was the one who broke eye contact and let the hand drop to the side of the couch. He walked back to his bedroom.

“Wait, come back,” he heard Daniel beg. 

“I’m just getting you a blanket, you big baby.” He crossed back to the couch and laid it carefully over the man whose eyes had finally fallen shut. “You can stay tonight, but we talk tomorrow,” he said.

“Mmm kay,” Daniel mumbled. Johnny nudged him to turn on his side so that if he got sick he wouldn’t choke. 

He went to fetch a wastebasket from the bathroom. He placed it just under Daniel’s sleeping face. “If you get sick, please use this,” he said. 

And he was going to walk away, but then his hand stroked the dark, wavy hair away from Daniel’s forehead. He felt his forehead like he did that first day in the bar when Daniel passed out on him. Only this time the man was burning up. He found a paper towel in the kitchen and dampened it with cool water. He placed it across Daniel’s brow. 

“What the fuck happened to you?” Johnny whispered, his hand lingering beside Daniel’s face, his fingers gently grazing the cheek. 

Daniel didn’t stir. Asleep he looked even younger than he did usually, as if that were humanly possible.

For a moment Johnny didn’t know what year it was. Suddenly he imagined a large bruise near Daniel’s swollen eye and a band-aid on his face where the cool compress was now. A bike was parked outside the apartment, and Johnny suddenly felt like he should call Daniel’s mother.

He shook his head to clear it and walked back to the kitchen, where he poured himself a cup of coffee. Get a grip, he told himself. It’s 2018. Nobody, at least at this moment, was looking for Daniel Larusso. They all thought he was in San Diego. 

“Johnny?”

He barely heard the voice, but he answered. 

“Yeah?”

Daniel’s eyes were still closed, but he spoke two words softly. “Thanks. Again.” 

As he looked down at the sleeping man one last time before getting ready for bed he knew one thing for sure. 

HE was the one in over his head with this. Not the other way around.


End file.
